Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Slenderman: The Myth

He/it has even influenced video games such as 'Slender' and this years 'Slender: The Arrival', but does anyone know what it really is, its history or its purpose?

I'm here to tell you.

AppearanceModern literature describes Slenderman as a tall man who wears a black suit and a black tie. It's appearance can only be described as nebulous as it possesses no defined facial features or hair whatsoever, much like a mannequin.

Slenderman's height is often disputed and ranges from 6 to 16ft in literature and in artistic impressions.

Behaviour
The Slenderman is a malevolent force, often behaving in a passive aggressive manner.

His targets are stalked for years at a time as he allows them to sink into a state of paranoia. When making contact with victims, particularly children, he will present himself as a friendly character with the intention of luring them into his grasp.

From these descriptions, one can determine that Slenderman is a manipulative and scheming character.

History
There is no defined history associated with The Slenderman, however, it is believed that his roots lie in Germany.

Early sightings in the 1600's were known as 'Der Ritter' where it took the dress of a knight or a royal figure. Despite these sightings, nothing was reported about the creature for another three-hundred years.

The next evidence came from early 1900's classical black and white/sepia photography. Around this time, it seemed that soldiers were the primary target of the Slenderman and in America and Canada, reports of missing skiers and children around forested areas were frequent.

The first mentions of the Slenderman on the internet were found in Something Awful Forum's 'Create Paranormal Images' where an ample internet thread developed.

ContactContact with children and adults differ in various ways.

In both cases, the Slenderman will find interest in a victim for an unknown reason. Eventually, abduction will take place in a forested area where they would be killed. The victim would be impaled on the branches of a tree whilst still alive and left to bleed to death. Organs would be removed and placed in plastic bags and put back into their original positions in the body whilst in the plastic bags. Corpses will show no signs of struggle.

In the case of a child, he will approach the individual, presenting itself as a friendly character as mentioned above.

Comparatively, adults chosen will have experienced a terrible tragedy in their lives. The individual will be stalked for long amounts of time and the adult will develop 'Slender Sickness'. The sickness causes extreme paranoia, nose bleeds, nightmares and hallucinations.

The Slenderman will stalk silently, provoking unbearable madness.

Sightings
Although only a dozen credible images have been photographed, they are indubitably disturbing.